On November 12, Mexico celebrates the birthday of Juana Ines de la Cruz, a hieronymist nun who went down in history as a poet, playwright, composer, philosopher and one of the most educated women of her time in New Spain.
Juana Ines de la Cruz (Spanish. Juana Inés de la Cruz was born on November 12, 1651 near Mexico City, in the village of San Miguel de Nepantla. Her parents are not believed to have been married, and therefore Juana and her two older sisters are recorded in parish registers as «Churchchildren», that is, illegitimate.
By the age of 6, she had learned to write, sew and embroider, which in those days constituted a woman's full education. By the age of eight, Juana had read her grandfather's entire library, including works on philosophy, theology and medicine.
At the age of 9, she separated from her family: her mother sent her to Mexico City to visit her uncle and aunt, wealthy relatives who entered the viceroy's palace. By luck, they saw abilities in the girl, giving Juana the opportunity to study. The new self-education course included literature, science, mathematics, philosophy, theology, and foreign languages. In addition to all this, Juana grew up to be a beauty: light brown, wide eyes, high forehead, straight nose, graceful hands, a charming smile, a lively and friendly character — all this could not but attract people to her.
In 1664, Juana was introduced to the new court and in the shortest possible time won such love from the high couple that the viceroy made her her first lady-in-waiting. She held this position for about 5 years. At the same time, she became famous for writing poetry in Spanish, the Aztec language, and also in Latin. She wrote for performances, night concerts, church holidays, and funerals.
Juana also had ill-wishers. One day someone started a rumor that her knowledge is superficial, and she only knows how to suggest that she has it. To refute such nonsense, the viceroy decided to organize a public exam in which Juans were asked questions about all branches of knowledge. But she brilliantly coped with the most tricky tasks.
As for her personal life, Juana had many fans, and almost all of them were serious contenders for her hand and heart. But Juana refused all applicants for her hand.
In August 1667, Juana made her first attempt to enter a monastery. But shortly before this, the reformed charter of the monastery of St. Joseph of the Order of the Barefoot Carmelites turned out to be too harsh for a secular young lady. She became seriously ill and, at the insistence of doctors, left the monastery three months later. Nevertheless, in February 1669, Juana entered the convent of the Order of Saint Jerome and, after a short novitiate, took monastic vows under the name Juana Ines de la Cruz.
In 1690, Juana wrote a rebuttal to a sermon composed by Jesuit monk Antonio Vieira. Quite unexpectedly, her private letter was published. The publication was a great success, but church authorities in Mexico accused it of pride and neglect of the monastic commandment of obedience.
To restore her good name, Sister Juana writes and publishes the latest and perhaps most famous work — «Answer to Sister Philothea», where, using the example of her life, she tried to show how necessary knowledge and creativity can be for a woman.
But her spiritual leaders insisted that Sister Juana take a vow of poverty. Along with the vow of poverty, she made a vow not to touch pen and paper. Mexico City was so excited by her religious zeal that another archbishop, following her example, also sold all the books, as well as jewelry, antiques and even his own bed...
In 1695, a plague epidemic began in the monastery, and while caring for the sisters, she became infected herself. On April 17 of the same year, Juana Ines de la Cruz passed away. While remaining faithful to this vow, she wrote a will on the wall of the cell with a finger doused with her own blood: «The day, month and year of my death will be marked here. In the name of the love of the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, I pray to my beloved sisters — and two living and already departed — to remember me before Him, although I was the worst woman in the world. Signed: me, Juana Ines de la Cruz».